Glitch Exposes Veterans' Data on Government Site

Veterans who logged in to the department’s eBenefits site were able to see other former service members’ information, including their names, dates of birth, disabilities, how much they had been paid and the Social Security numbers, FedScoop reported Monday.

A user who contacted the news agency said he tried to alert the department to the problem to no avail. The veteran, Eric Grzelak, said each time he refreshed his Internet browser a different user’s information was made available.

The department told FedScoop some 10,000 veterans had logged onto the website over the weekend when the glitch first surfaced. The government shut down the site over the weekend though it didn’t say why. As of Sunday night it was up and running properly again. Given new information was generated each time someone refreshed their browser an unknown number of members could have been exposed, FedScoop said.

Some 2.8 million veterans have created profiles on the site, which enables them to access a variety of government forms, medical records and create direct deposits for cash benefits.